Better or worse
by writingzombie
Summary: This is the first time i publish something to a wider audience, so im kind of nervous about that. ;) First things first, I like my stories a bit darker, not grimdark, but dark. There is always a bit of humor though. Its a story about two Dota characters and about the methods, which the thrones are using, please enjoy. I would love to hear constructive criticism.


Better or Worse

The sun reflected on the water. Even though he was on top of a cliff, he was able to make out a few fish here and there, beneath the surface of the slowly drifting river. As he raised his head he saw a few leafless trees in the distance, which clawed themselves to the bank on the other side of the stream. It was a wide river. Black birds flew through high in the blue sky, crying out their disapproval loudly and without pause. What they were disapproving about remained a mystery, which he could not solve. He looked back onto the water and asked himself, why he kept on fighting all the time, why he endured the pain and the spilling of blood, over and over again. Why he traveled from battlefield to battlefield and from one war to the next. Sometimes he tried to stay away from everything and thought about the things he knew. Eventually he would set out again though, to seek more wars to win, more foes to best and more fame to gain. So why did he do it, he asked himself, but he knew the answer to that question. It was easy though after all.

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked over to the young woman, who stood next to him on the cliff. Her feminine figure was dressed in red, matching her red hair. She wore a short dress, which left her arms and shoulders free and red, knee high boots around her feet. The fashion of the period dictated something, which covered more skin, but it was very long ago, since he cared for the current fashion. Some unobtrusive signs were tattooed around her eyes, which were of orange color, and her lips were of dark red. She would be called a natural beauty, if someone had an eye for that.

He didn't.

With a small smile, she looked on the flames dancing around her hands, flaring up every now and then. His three orbs seemed to look down on this bauble, while they were circling around his shoulders.

"Why are you here?" he asked her.

"Hm?" she seemed to have been lost in thought.

"Why are you here?" he repeated the question.

"What kind of question is that?" she sounded, as if she wasn't sure, why he was asking such a question. "We have an order. Nothing may cross this part of the river and we are to ensure, that no one does."

"I remember. But I meant something different. Why" he made a sweeping motion, which covered the whole ground "are you here?"

"Well, because of the war, why else should I be here?" Now she looked at him, as if he asked, why water was wet.

He turned around and looked back over the river, while rubbing his chin. "You are here, because of the war, hm? I guess it is your war then?"

"What do you mean, my war? Of course it is, I wouldn't be here otherwise." She stepped beside him.

"Then I presume you have family, friends or possessions which are affected by the war?" He saw a big fish, which seemed to be drifting completely by chance behind a smaller one in the water.

"I know, that my sister is running around somewhere over there." She made a motion towards the other bank and the dark forest behind it.

"Your sister? Still you are standing next to me, on this side."

"Yes, because… we need to win the war." He didn't need to look, to know, that she had an unsure expression on her face.

"Well, that is an argument, I cannot hope to disprove. _Because we need to win the war." _Hechuckled. "Think, or at least try to! Why are you fighting in this war, even against you own sister."

"Look at the landscape over there." The land on the other side on the river laid dark and as if dead in front of them. It stood in clear contrast to the flourishing landscape on their side. "Something which causes that cannot be allowed to win."

"You made this observation only when you were already here. You arrived and you didn't know why and whom you were to fight and for what purpose." He turned his head a bit to the side. "That was a better attempt though, but you are still lacking another conclusion. You did see the creatures, who are to fight on this side? Send into battle, badly equipped and with strange ideologies, forced into their heads. They are flogged forward into battle by the will of the throne, while it wastes not a single thought on their survival." He shook his head, his orbs seemed to agree. "No, both sides are equally cruel and power hungry and both would do anything to destroy the other one. One could say, that the Throne on the other side is at least honest with that."

She was quiet for a while. Once or twice she looked like she wanted to say something, then she murmured "Damn… I don't know why I am fighting here. There is no real reason".

"Oh, there is a reason. Listen! The Throne is whispering to you all the time, even now. Day and night, if you are asleep or awake it makes no difference. I can hear it. Like a Waterfall, never stopping to flow, its influence is spreading across the country and calls every being succumbing to it into battle."

Her voice became stern "I don't think I like that."

He had to laugh, because she seemed more naive than he had thought at first, his orbs laughing with him, while circling around his shoulders. "You think the throne cares about what you like and what not? It knows no scruples; it even forces you to fight your own sister."

"I don't believe it. I could just walk away, back into my desert. Let the throne fight this damn battle alone." But her voice didn't sound, like she was so sure about that.

"You wouldn't get very far. You would start to doubt your decision, slow down and turn around in the end, because you would be absolutely sure that you needed to fight in this war."

"I don't believe you" she repeated, as if she thought, that she only needed to say it often enough, to make it true.

But he was able to see, that she did believe him. She knew deep down, that he was right. In the end he was always right. "Believe what you want. Go ahead, try and be on your way. I am curious as how far you will make it." He made a gesture towards the way away from the cliff and one of his orbs circled around his arm.

She frowned "Okay, let´s say you are right. What is there left for me to do?"

"That is easy. Think!" He smiled a cruel smile, his Orbs shining and the birds shouting. "Do you not get it?"

"Stop playing your games" she hissed.

"What do I have left, if not my games? But as you want. Everything you can do," he made another pause, just to see the impatient look on her face "is to win the war." He kept his smile and his orbs smiled with him, while they were tauntingly circling around the woman now.

"Well, thank you for nothing." She looked darkly at him, flames flaring up around her hands. "Call you´re little balls back. Why aren't you influenced by the thrones?"

"I can hear it, the Throne, I can hear them both. How they are desperately trying to call out louder and mightier than the other one, but failing to do so every time. I was able to hear them, even before the breaking of the mad moon, which caused all this trouble. But however loud they are calling, flattering, begging and ordering, they cannot tell me anything I don't already know."

"And why are you on this side of the river then, where it almost seems, like the other one is pleasing you more, with its _honesty" _she spat the last word out, mocking him with it. But he was beyond that.

"I threw a coin. Head meant to fight for this side. If it had shown tails I would probably be standing on the other side of the river now. In these things is a coin as good a basis for a decision as everything else, in my experience.

"Ah, well, a coin, okay." After a moment she said "Wait, why are you fighting at all in this war, if you have no real reason and know everything better?"

"I have a reason to be here." The big fish in the river came closer and closer to the smaller one. "I am incredibly bored and this is a good distraction."

Now she looked at him, as if he was a complete madman. Maybe he was, at least in the eyes of people like her. If one lived as long as he had, some things just lose all their meaning, while other people think they are indispensable. The only thing, that really mattered, was magic.

There was movement on the other bank. A figure appeared and waded through the shallow river. He felt a spark of joy and the orbs cheered with him. Finally there was something to do.

"There he is… it is. Whatever that is" said the woman. She seemed relieved of something as well.

The figure was twisted and had a grotesque outline. It leaned heavily onto a staff, which was decorated by a lot of bones and totems. All in all not really his taste, but he assumed that the staff was more than just a walker. The closer the figure came, the more broken it looked. One shoulder was always lower than the other, and it walked with a heavy limp. Its skin consisted of blue and dark blue stripes. Its face made the subtle impression of an anvil and a large bone was driven through the nose. A few heavy earrings dangled from the side of its head and cavernous yellow eyes seemed to glisten maleficent in their holes. The figure wore only waistcloth and a belt, which was looped around its shoulder. At the end of the belt was a bag with lots of skulls in it.

"Your sister?" he asked the woman.

"Very funny. Where do they always find these strange beings?"

"I remember this thing. It has some strange, primitive Magic, but effective nonetheless. I have to act fast, so that it cannot strike back." He was talking more to himself, than to her. "Especially, since we are two." He saw how the big fish in the water darted forward and started to hunt the little one, which desperately tried to escape.

"What do I do?" asked the woman.

"You will witness old and rare magic and otherwise you will not get in my way."

"Ha. Okay, you big mighty wizard. Show this poor, weak mortal, how real magic is like" she sneered at him.

That was exactly, what he would do. He would show her some real magic. It was much too long, since the last time he used his abilities. Now it was time to use them again, to use the type of magic, almost no one was capable of using anymore. A smile crept onto his face. He knew the words and the signs and his orbs helped him, ambitious of bathing in the glory of that magic themselves. They circled around him, changed their colors and he sensed the powers he tapped and formed. He knew which spells he wanted to use, he would not take any risks. Slowly, very slowly, his robe began to blow in the upcoming wind. Then more, always some more. The woman next to him made an unnerved noise, when the wind tore at the flames around her hands, blowing them out, as the wind became strong enough.

Eventually he stood in the eye of the storm he had created and the wind was still getting stronger. A young tree fell over, loose branches flew in the wind and stones were rattling down the cliff.

"Ha, some mage named Eul once made a weak copy of this spell and bound it to a stick. Suddenly everyone called him the greatest mage of his time, but they hadn't seen nothing" he shouted through the wind towards the woman.

Then he continued, because he wasn't finished and prepared his next spell immediately. He created a lens out of air high above them and felt the heat of the sun glaring over its edges. With his last Spell he created matter and filled it with heat and velocity. He felt the might he wielded and laughed and his orbs were changing delightfully their colors. Golden flickering changed to crackling purple and icy blue. They circled, faster and faster, whirling around his body until they were colorful blurry lines. He stood there, in the center of his magic and felt how its raw and mighty force kept striking at him and the world. He gave this whirling chaos Order, focused it and gave a direction to it. He didn't need to check anything, he knew the words and the signs and he knew that he made no mistakes. In the end, he never made mistakes.

Then he freed the magic and in his arrogance he shouted with a voice, which swept over the whole river "Prepare yourself for your end!"

The storm darted away, now visible as a great Tornado, faster than an arrow. The giant column of whirling air let the water spray, as it raced across the river. The angry wind grabbed the figure and tore it high in the air, over the highest tree. It fell helplessly and hit the ground, when the storm passed by and continued to wreak havoc in the forest behind.

He still laughed, because he knew what would follow. The other one would soon know as well. On its last moments it would see his might, everyone would see his might.

But when the figure tried to stand up it lost an arm.

"Wha-?!" his laughter froze and he couldn't believe it. Slowly some white powder trickled of the figures body, where the arm should have been. "That cannot be!" he shouted. It was only an Illusion, as he hated to discover.

The Illusion kept falling apart now, as it lost its shoulder and half of its head. He knew of course, that the Illusion didn't care if it had a head or not. It was as much alive, as the puppet at the end of a puppeteer string.

Now it was the woman´s turn to laugh. "Well, that was impressive, you almighty mage. You found a very convincing way to destroy an Illusion made of white powder. _Just act fast, before it strikes back, that dangerous Illusion._" she mocked him and couldn't stop laughing.

"Silence, woman! The magic was cast, don't you know what that means?" he snapped at her. He was angry, it was all for nothing. His Orbs seemed to be crestfallen and hid behind his shoulders from his wrath.

She just continued talking. "Pfff, that little bit of wind. To be honest I expected a bit more, with your reputation and this big announcement of mighty old magic."

She still smiled, as she looked up into the sky, because it got dark, as if a cloud covered the sun. Then she frowned, there was no cloud. Suddenly the spot, where the Illusion still tried to get up to its buckled legs, was brightly illuminated. A big circular area looked like it was the stage of some famous play, but only until the fire came. The water in that area evaporated in a second and the steam exploded upwards, like out of a big cooking pot. The Illusion was gone in an instant, devoured by the heat. The Stones at the bottom of the River crackled and sprung, as if someone stroked them with a giant hammer.

Suddenly the day was normally bright again. Some Algae glowed and burned almost gently, while some black charred fish and one burned bird, which was unlucky enough to cross the path of his magic, laid on the almost glowing stones. Slowly the water took back the momentary dry area at the bottom of the river.

"What the-?!" the Woman managed to say, before something very fast crossed their head with a hiss. With a loud, droning noise it crashed right into the spot, where the remains of the illusion had laid. He was able to sense the tremor that was caused by that. Big rocks, small looking at this distance, were being flung around, as the Meteor made his way sizzling across the water, leaving a wide swath of destruction on the riverbed. Then the whole mass hammered the embankment on the other side of the river, setting some trees aflame, as it finally broke into many smaller parts.

The water hissed and simmered down, and then everything was quiet for a while. Even the birds couldn't find anything to complain about anymore. The river was calmly drifting away again and the trees were burning, inaudible in the distance.

Finally he said "I never make mistakes, except one and for all my knowledge, I cannot get rid of this one."

Only to use the magic was, like always, satisfying enough. He tricked himself in the decision making. A small spell would have been enough to find out, if it was the real figure, but he preferred to unleash his might and exhaust it. He lowered his head and saw, that the small fish had escaped the big one, seemingly happy about it.

"Remember me, to thank that coin for showing you head" said the woman with widely opened eyes. She was still looking at the place, where the demolition had happened.

He turned around and started walking along the path they used to get to this spot and his orbs were following him.

"Of course I can repeat the spell. I know the words and the signs and the orbs know them as well. They belong to me, like the sun belongs to the sky." They marched through the Wood. "At the moment, the magic simply wouldn't react. Whenever we use magic, we make the elements behave in contradiction to their nature and my magic bend this natural behavior quite a bit. It needs to regenerate and that takes time. There is not much, which can work around this effect."

Lina was listening curiously. His demonstration of the old magic shook her more than she wanted to admit.

"You didn't know that." He didn't say that as a question, it seemed like he read it in her face. It bugged her that he was able to look through her so easily, with his iris less eyes.

"Of course I knew, that the magic needs time, till we can cast the same thing again, but I didn't know the reason" she had to admit anyway. For her, Magic was something given by nature. Since her earliest youth, she was able to throw around with self created fire, like other people did with stones they recovered from the ground. Later she managed to create various firestorms and her biggest accomplishment was a ray of fire, so quick and hot, that it burned with a white flame. Witnesses of this magic often thought it to be lightning, more than fire. Her sister, obviously influenced by the other throne, was her exact counterpart and showed great affinity to ice and cold. They had been fighting each other all the time in their childhood, which drove their parents mad, because every time they left a lot of collateral damage.

A few creatures ran past them, towards the enemy. Towards the creatures of the other throne, she corrected herself. She must not forget, what the invoker had said. It wasn't her war.

As long as she concentrated, she felt as if she could hear the calling of the throne. A humming whispering, which seemed to origin directly in her head, but she was not able to make out any words and every other noise drowned it immediately. She didn't know how he was able to hear it and looked at him, walking beside her, his Orbs following him circling, wherever he was going.

"Where did you learn all that?" she asked finally.

"My magic? At old places, which are long forgotten. From Men and Women, who became dust again ages ago. Close to everything is lost in the sand of time. Maybe there are a few writings left, here and there, but there aren't many alive, who use my art."

"That wonders me, after seeing the results." He had literally pulverized the riverbed. If that twisted figure had been real, there would have been no chance for it, to get out alive of that place.

"Not everyone can learn it. It takes time and it´s exhausting, but the result is beyond any price. Most people, who practice it, have problems to remember the words and the signs for only two spells. Not me though, I am the best in this art and no one can challenge me at it." He said that without boasting, as if he told her one plus one is two.

They got to a place where some fighting was going on. The place was surrounded by trees and she saw how greenly figures hacked with simple weapons upon their reddish counterparts, which were defending themselves with a conglomeration of similar weapons, while new creatures of both sides made their way onto the battlefield. Red and green bodies were lying on the ground, hacked apart and twisted and a proud tower once stood on this spot, but now there were only smoldering ruins left. The heavy stone had crushed many creatures of both sides, when it fell down, but it didn't seem like it had kept the others from killing each other, even for one moment.

Maybe she was able to impress that arrogant guy with his orbs a bit as well and she fanned the flames around her hands. She would show the old man. She walked behind the fighting creatures and collected herself. She sensed the familiar, comfortable burning in her head, as always when she was casting and suddenly the flames around her hands were burning bright. She pushed her hands up front and loosened a wall of flames. The fire, which had the outlines of a dragon, left her allied creatures carefully out, but swept a burning path through the grass and wrapped itself so much closer around the enemy. She felt joy, when she saw them withering and burning.

Then she remembered the words of the invoker again. _It is not your war. _She shook her head, as if she wanted to shake away drowsiness. "They are not my enemies, they are not my enemies" she murmured. Then she turned around, still with a bit of triumph in her face. The Invoker was gone and nowhere to be seen. She asked herself, where he might have gone so quick, when suddenly a foggy wall was shot out of the forest, which dashed her against a tree with surprising force. Lightning flashed through her head. She wasn't able to see straight, the flames around her hands were extinct and she needed to hold on to the trunk in order to keep standing. Something made a whirring noise and an arrow hit the tree right next to her hand. She could feel ice crystals spreading around the spot, where the arrow hit the trunk.

"Damn!" Fear gripped her and she staggered behind the trees, in the opposite direction of where the arrow came from. Another arrow flew past her. It hit a low hanging branch, which glistened of ice shortly after.

"Damn! Damn!" She tried to fan her flames, but all she felt was cold ash. She fled deeper into the trees, onwards, as fast as she could. Her skin prickling, breathless and panicking she staggered forward, expecting an arrow in her back at every moment.

She heard scurrying, fast steps behind her and another whirring noise. A piercing pain ripped through her shoulder and paralyzing cold crept through her whole body shortly afterwards. "Damn! Damn! Damn!" she hissed through clenched teeth, while the pain forced her to her knees.

"You want to say some last words?" A female voice sounded behind her. She turned painfully around and looked upon a tall dark figure, which face was hidden by a cowl. Lina was only able to see a bit of white hair popping out from under the cowl, which she would have thought strange normally. She had trouble taking her eyes of the tip of the arrow though, which was pointing towards her with a glimmering blue light. The flames were coming back, she could feel it. A spark in the cold ash, but it would be too late to change anything.

Two dark glowing Shadows abruptly appeared out of the forest. Despite their size they were moving with almost no sound at all. At least Lina wasn't able to hear any sound, while they were creeping over the ground towards the tall figure.

"I have a few last words." She fought herself bravely onto her feet, while the spark slowly grew to a small flame.

"You should hurry with those." The tip of the arrow was still pointed strictly towards her, without so much as a shiver.

"Look behind you."

"Ha, I'm supposed to fall for that?" Then Lina heard a voice, which was most welcome to her, from the empty space beside the woman.

"You should have fallen for that. Now you will learn how fragile you are." With that the Invoker seemingly stepped out of nothing, his orbs shining in cold blue. He pointed with one hand towards the woman, who winced and let the arrow loose. Lina closed her eyes. The arrow flew right past her face, so close that she could feel the breath of air, as it flew by. When she opened her eyes again she saw how the woman was covered in a thin layer of ice, which she immediately broke open.

Then one of the strangely glowing figures spat a glowing substance out of its open mouth, which hit the Woman at her back, burning a hole in her cape.

She screamed, turned around and tried to run, but immediately she was covered in another layer of ice. The invoker created a magic missile in his hand and hurled it towards her. The second glowing shadow started to attack as well. Again and again, every time the woman got hit, the Invokers magic covered her in ice and every time she had to break free again. She stumbled now forward, more than she ran, with burns all over her uncovered limbs and blood dripping from her armor.

The Flame inside Lina was ablaze again, her Hands safely and brightly covered in fire. She felt the pain in her shoulder and the desire for vengeance gripped her. She grasped over her shoulder, ripped the arrow out and threw it away. The ability to channel the suns fire was given to her as well. She would prove that right now, as she threw her hands forward, the heat burning through her. A moment later a column of fire exploded out of the sky and tossed the woman helplessly to the ground. That was not the mercilessly hot burning, like that of the Invokers magic. It was an outburst of fiery force.

Only halfway conscious the woman tried to get up again, painfully groaning. She got hit again, this time at the side of her hips. Lina couldn't believe it, when she saw that the woman managed to get to her feet again and even tried to limp away further, like if she was heavily drugged. Lina send another dragon of flames on its way, which hit the woman right in her back, burning the leaves on the ground around her. The woman was hurled forward, her knees buckling and one of her hands scratching weakly at the bark of a tree, trying to keep her upright. Slowly, like a small sinking boat, the woman was sliding downwards on the ground until she was not moving anymore.

The Invoker stepped to the lifeless body and Lina walked next to him. She noticed, that the woman never let go of her bow. "How come, that she has white Hair" she wondered. The hair still peeped out under the burned cowl and Lina was glad that she couldn't see the face of the woman.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't remember her." With that he moved on, orbs dancing slowly around his shoulders and his glowing shadows following him.

She hurried after him. "What are those things?" The two towering, heat radiating beings seemed to examine her with glowing eyes.

"That is the best workmanship Culween ever managed to accomplish. I studied his works and made them my own."

She didn't understand a word. "Culween who?"

"A mage of the old time. He created the spell, which forms these two allies and binds them to my will. I found his works and improved them. He was only able to create one at a time, whereas I can do two, obviously." She heard the pride in his voice this time and she thought that she began to understand him. He was really not interested in anything else than his magic and the possibility to use it.

The evening settled in as they arrived back at the place, where the battle was raging before and the enemy had been forced back a bit. A tower in the distance was sending out a flashing light every now and then. Every flash was followed by a red sphere, which was gliding gently towards the ground, looking almost harmless in the distance. She stopped at the edge of the forest, as the Invoker moved on and looked at him. He had said something to her, something she deemed important. She remembered it again. It was not her fight, not her war, but she could not remember why.

Right as she wanted to hurry after him, she heard a voice and snapped her head around. The grotesque figure, which Illusion was wading through the river earlier the day, stood in some distance, watching them. Before she was able to react, it poured some powder out of a flask into a skull, which was already full of a green glowing fluid and stirred it once with a thick, blue finger. Then it threw the skull at her, with a malicious smile and the shout "Here, catch!"

The skull hit her head, hard as a thrown rock and she staggered backwards. The skull continued his flight unnaturally. She saw how it hit the Invoker too and to her horror it turned around, came right back towards her. She lifted her hands, but her stopping a falling tree like this would have been more likely than stopping this skull. This time she crashed on her back and after she was able to see straight again, she noticed, that the two glowing allies of the invoker closed in on him, as the skull was flying back towards him.

Then she felt a cold. It was a cold well known to her. A tree, the grass, the remains of the tower and everything else around her was suddenly covered in frost. Her teeth were chattering and she hated it, hated the cold with everything she was, as it seemed to suck the feeling out of her limbs. Her damned sister was here. The strange and painful skull now bounced between the Invoker and his two burning allies.

Suddenly she saw a cascade of small red projectiles hitting his body. She followed the projectiles to their origin and saw that grotesque figure dancing around a totem of some sorts, which emanated these projectiles like an angry swarm of bees. One needle sting is not dangerous, a hundred are painful, but a thousand are deadly, she thought, while the Invoker was hit again and again.

She raised her hands and let the flame burn bright and clear, casting out the cold feeling. If her sister and that strange thing wanted a fight, they could have one.

The column of fire burned down on the dancing figure and broke its concentration, as it tossed it away from his totem and onto its back. His totem went instantly quiet and after a moment it crumbled down into ash. She could see the Invokers heavy breathing and with his eyes closed, he leaned forward, coughing up some blood. Then he opened his eyes again, head still lowered and watched their enemies coming at them now. A smile like a dagger split his face and a hungry expression settled in his white eyes, as if he was an alcoholic seeing a nice bottle of wine. The orbs were dancing furiously around his shoulders, illuminating him in cold blue light and for the third time this day, she was glad that he was on her side.

She looked back towards the tree line. The grotesque figure seemed to sardonically watch her out of its yellow eyes, presumably furious, that she destroyed his totem. An old man, with a bent back, clothed in a red robe and with a book in his one hand, staff in the other came through the trees. Lina didn't know him but the next person she knew all too well. She was small and had blonde locks, around her oh-so-cute face. Blue clothes covered her body, with white fur draped around her neck and white boots on her feet. One Hand held a white staff. It was Rylai, her damned sister. With a hollow sound the cursed skull finally fell down and splintered with a crack. Culweens greatest accomplishment was nowhere to be seen anymore.

They were here to kill them and no words could change that. It didn't look like the Invoker would even want to change that, as she could already feel the wind getting stronger again. Apparently the elements had calmed themselves and let him use his magic again.

"I will show the world, that my incantations are stronger than you´re weak magic, Invoker. You belong to the old age, your time is over." The old man shouted over the distance with a creaky voice.

"Ha, you don't know anything old man, and I don't even need to know you, to best you." The Invoker replied with a seemingly calm voice, but she could sense the pleasant anticipation in it. He wanted to fight and to cast his magic. He needed it, to feel alive, like a fish needed water, or a bird air under its wings.

The old man started to shout some kind of dark sounding incantation into the twilight. His voice grew louder and louder, presumably sending the words to some evil god. The ground began to glow in an unhealthy orange and unnatural fire started to crackle here and there. Lina wanted to stop him, but the fire refused to tap the suns powers so soon after she used them. Frustrated, she just send a wall of flames in the direction of her sister, which covered behind her staff. The orange glowing became more intense and she had the bad feeling, that the old man would finish his incantation soon. The Invoker better thought of something, she did not want to know what would happen, if the old man finished his work.

Then she saw, and felt, how another tornado darted forward and the three adversaries were tossed into the air, interrupting the old man´s shouting abruptly. At the same time, a purple flashing light illuminated the darkening sky and she looked up, to see where that came from. A crackling bundle of purple lightning appeared over their heads becoming stronger and more powerful every second. At first it had the size of a human, then a small house and then a big barn. It was growing bigger, as she looked down.

As the tornado moved on, she saw how her sister crashed into a tree and fell through the branches towards the ground, out of her sight. The blue grotesque figure hit the ground, rolled over and came back to his feet again. The old man didn't hit the ground as hard as he should have, his book radiating a dark light, as he was working himself on his feet again.

The lightning seemed to explode in the air, sending a purple blast in all directions. Lina covered up, but didn't feel anything, as the blast hit her. The old man however looked tired and exhausted all of a sudden, after the wave went past him. His voice, which had again started the incantation immediately, became quiet and he stumbled upon the words. Blood dripped out of his nose. He tried again, but after only a few words he stopped, as if he forgot how to continue and an angry expression crossed his face.

"Did you lose your concentration, old man?" taunted the Invoker, holding one of his orbs in an outstretched hand.

"Damn you." The old man closed his book with a clapping and raised his staff. From the top of the staff a magic missile hissed towards the Invoker. The Invoker fired back, all of his Orbs burning in a threatening, golden light now. The grotesque figure started to attack him as well, when Lina felt a sharp pain burning on her back, right as she threw a bit of fire at it. A big chunk of ice had hit her, leaving a painful scratch. Another fell down, much bigger than the first and exploded on the ground next to the Invoker, spraying sharp ice shards around. This could only be the work of her sister, but Lina couldn't see her and had no idea how to stop that. She covered her head, when another chunk of ice exploded on the ground near her, feeling a few ice shards painfully scratching the skin over her ribs. Then she saw, how the Invoker got hit again by the old man and another chunk of ice crashed directly onto his shoulder.

"Enough!" he roared and clashed his hands together in front of him, the orbs whirring around him, each in a different color. A bright shockwave raced with a loud and droning bang towards the trees, almost faster than Lina could follow it with her eyes. The grotesque figure was bowled out of the way, as if it was made out of fabric. The shockwave reached the trees, made them shiver, treetops trembling. The weaker branches were snapped off of their trunks and hurled around. She heard a muffled, high pitched scream and the icy rain stopped immediately.

The Invoker was now breathing even heavier and looked exhausted himself, but he still had that crazy smile on his face and she heard him chuckle quietly. He send another projectile on its way towards the old man and pulled himself together one more time. The orbs were changing their color, whirring once more, but they too clearly started to slow down. It seems as if the magic worked though, because the two towering, glowing shadows seemed to literally jump out of the ground right next to him, attacking the old man at once. His adversary seemed to conclude, that he would not be able to win this battle anymore and preferred to turn around and flee. He rushed away, as fast as he could, while the two pursuers followed him, like hounds on the hunt. The blue figure laid still and unmoving on the ground, its staff a few steps away.

Only Rylai came into view again. She limped a bit and a few sprinkles of blood were scattered on her white fur, dripping out of a cut over her left eye. Lina saw, how she raised her white staff and the Invoker suddenly found himself in a prison of ice, unable to move, only his Orbs continued to circle. They could not be hindered by ice, as it seemed, but they weren't able to help him in this situation regardless and just circled scared around him.

This was war, he was his ally and she had to help him. Lina thought for a moment, that she heard something whisper, and then she fanned the flames. She fanned them as hot as she could, the heat rising under her skin and into her head. The fire was rising around her arms and she was beginning to levitate of the ground. Her shoulders were aflame now, then her head, then her whole body, prickling in the heat. She became euphoric. Her element was all around her, in her, under her skin, filling her lungs, settled in her head and her heart was pumping it through her veins. The flames were dancing around her in a tune, which she created by a mixture of pure will and primal instinct. If it was up to her, this fire would never end, it would swallow the whole world, never stopping, never going extinct. The flames around her hands were screeching and hissing with the rising temperature, until they became white, as freshly fallen snow.

She watched her target with burning eyes and she pushed her hands forward to release the flames. She heard a metallic sound and smelled the good, familiar smell of burned air. In a bright flash, which robbed her of her vision for a second, the fire struck her sister like lightning. It tore into her and exited her body out of her back.

Rylai screamed, staggered a few insecure steps back and looked confused at Lina, as if she didn't know what had happened, or where she was. It looked like she wanted to say something, but then she fell with billowing, blonde locks backwards into the grass, which immediately was covered in frost.

The flames were burning down quickly now and Linas feet touched the ground again. She felt exhausted and tired, like a fire, which had used its fuel too fast. Night had settled in and moonshine covered the country. She slowly stepped over to her sister and looked down on her.

After a while he stood next to her, covered in his white robes. His Orbs were circling calmly now and bathed the small, destroyed body in soft, blue light. Everything was quiet. The face of her sister looked just like she was sleeping. The huge wound in her chest stood in clear contrast to that though. They had been in conflict for their entire lives, burning fields and freezing rivers, driving their parents mad, but they never hurt one other, not really, not like this. Not until this day. She touched her sister´s cheek and felt her body warmth, which was decreasing now. Strange, she always thought, that her skin would be as cold as the deep sea. A quiet voice in her head told her, that she should feel sad about this. She wanted to, but everything she felt was a slightly triumphant feeling and the whispering of the throne, which became louder again for only a brief second.

"What is your name?" he asked her. His ice blue orbs were close to him, moving very slowly and seemed to ease his pain.

"Lina" She was not sure, why he would ask such a question, at such a time.

"Lina." He repeated. "I think I will remember you." It seemed like it was important to him somehow, but she had no idea what he meant by that and she did not really care at the moment. "What is your name?" she asked.

He looked her in the eye for a few seconds and then he simply said "I am the Invoker, nothing more, nothing less." She wasn't sure though, if he wanted to say something different at first.

She shrugged and felt incredibly tired. "I think I would like a drink of the well right now." With that she turned around and set off tiredly towards the throne.

"What about her?" he called towards her, after she made a few steps.

She turned around once more. "What about her? She was an enemy, now she is a dead enemy" and then she looked down to the ground and murmured quietly, unable for him to hear it "…only an enemy." It felt wrong, but she couldn't point out why. When she looked up again, she was able to see just for the smallest fracture of a second something like compassion in his eyes. Then the moment was over, she turned around again and moved on.

After a while he was walking next to her and she could hear him say "Really, none is better, or worse, than the other." But she had no idea, what he meant.


End file.
